The Chamber of Commerce is not a government entity that by definition would reflect the wishes of the people. In theory the Chamber reflects the wishes of the business community. Wait a minute, the business community is supposed to reflect the overall community, if it's properly in sync.
I took it somewhat personally when the Chamber took the ax to PPD as a summer event. It's a sign I'm getting old that I recall PPD's birth as something remote in time. But that's indeed reality. I even covered the precursor event for the Morris paper. That precursor was the Fall Festival. This Fall Festival was not to be confused with the Vicky Dosdall event at the fairgrounds. The "old" Fall Festival was before the Killoran building got built. For some reason my overriding memory of the event is of Lee Temte "freelancing" his musical entertainment. Temte was an interesting extroverted person in Morris at one time. There he was, poised with his guitar for the Fall Festival. He was often heard on the radio.
Some forward-looking community people thought it was time to consider a bigger annual festival that would be held in summer months. Why should Glenwood have so much primacy with that sort of thing, with their Waterama?
Legend has it that the Waterama almost met its end when guys my age, those abundant boomers, came to town and were too rambunctious. It could actually threaten property, or so I've heard. Do you want to know the template for the kind of undesirable behavior I'm talking about? It's those kids taunting the cadets who were arriving for a formal affair in the movie "Taps." For some reason, many young boys seemed not very happy with life and did not move forward with the proper ideals and maturity. A sociologist might be able to tell you why. That's not my game although I definitely observe and file stuff away.
The boomers receded. DWI laws got much, much tougher. Society straightened things out and the Waterama got along just fine. My uncle and his wife were grand marshals in 1987. I regret that I haven't been there for over a decade. I used to photograph the Kills and the Josts along the parade route - in basically the same place - every year. I enjoyed just walking among the parade watchers. Pastor Garmer of our Faith Lutheran Church said to me one year: "Well, Brian, I see you're working the crowd."
Heh heh.
Helping get PPD launched here
I was enthusiastic covering the efforts to establish our summer festival in Morris: Prairie Pioneer Days. Perhaps I was excessive but that was benign in this case. I got excessive about some other things too.
Everyone loves a good community celebration in the good old summertime. PPD was born and had a long and vigorous life. Many of the specific facets did fade away but no matter, the core features like the parade and food were intact. Food and music are the essential elements. The rest is just a little gravy.
My late parents and I enjoyed PPD over a long time. My Glenwood uncle Howard and his wife Vi joined us at least once. And then out of the blue, we hear that PPD has been cancelled as a summer event. People have pondered "why?"
In an email exchange I had with a well-known community leader, he said: "I agree (with you) about Prairie Pioneer Days. I think it should have stayed in the summer. Find some good music, good food and people will come. I think too many organizations took it upon themselves to do their own fundraisers during that weekend. It had a tremendous parade though."
He then "wondered what the weather will be like" for the re-scheduled event which will be in September, not in the "safe zone" for good weather. We'll need to have fingers crossed for good weather and indeed, maybe we'll be lucky. I know what it can be like to depend on luck, though.
We already have the Welcome UMM picnic in September. Actually the "UMM" has been taken out of the name so it's just "Welcome." I'm not sure what other appreciable group of people we'd be welcoming that time of year. The "caravan" of migrants from Mexico? The Republicans feverishly told us before the mid-terms that something like an invasion was coming, and they wouldn't lie to us, would they? Trump wouldn't lie?
Kevin Wohlers has gone public with his view about how maybe we shouldn't have let go of PPD as a summer event. Kevin and I have something important in common: we're Morris natives and MHS grads. We have a good feeling regarding the community's background and what our best interests might be.
Well, PPD is gone for now but let's focus on our month of November: Surely we can count on the Community Thanksgiving Dinner for bringing everyone together, n'est-ce pas? Oh wait a minute, there is no longer a Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
There are always people on the contrary side of me, making excuses and wringing hands.
I don't think there was a shortage of volunteers. I remember Pastor Jarvis (Zion Lutheran) joking one year that there were so many volunteers, he had the very narrow specialty of just filling water glasses! Volunteers were available to bring my parents' meals to them.
Payment was with a free will donation. I remember learning that the basket for this was not put in a real noticeable place, because organizers (I guess) thought it would be crass to suggest up front that $ be submitted. Oh, that's so Minnesotan, like people being timid at four-way stops. Motorists in New York City sure aren't like that! If the Community Thanksgiving Dinner simply needed more financial support, I think the attendees would be more considerate, even paying a designated fee if necessary. Would you be happy to do that? Close your eyes and imagine the aroma of all those pumpkin pies. There are more and more seniors and retirees among us, people for whom it's not practical to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving meal (using oven etc.).
If Willie's is open I might grab a prepared sandwich from the deli and get through the day. I'll be fine.
Open door for a new event?
Now that the Thanksgiving Dinner and PPD have essentially bitten the dust, might we think of something new? Oh gosh, that's like pulling teeth in this community, but not for me. I am so often an outlier in this community. Yet my attitude is rather gung-ho. So allow me to suggest we have a "Dyngus Day" festival in Morris. We need the Catholics to lead the way with this, if they have any money left after the bankruptcies and lawsuits across the nation.
Dyngus Day is on the Monday after Easter. It got famous a few years ago when Anderson Cooper of CNN got the giggles uncontrollably on the air talking about it. Something about the pussy willow princess.
Dyngus Day is a tons-of-fun Polish holiday. When I was a kid, "Polish jokes" were big. Never mind, Polish communities across America can be big on Dyngus Day. It's so well-timed coming after the long Lenten holiday. Romance figures in. Make way for fun, parades, drinking and festivities! You do not have to be Polish to enjoy, rather consider yourself Polish for the day. Guys are encouraged to chase after the ladies with squirt guns, buckets or other containers of water. We learn "the more bold and gallant boys may choose to use cologne."
Also, "hitting (gently, please) the ladies on the legs with switches or pussy willows is also common."
And yes ladies, you can strike back. Ladies, you get your revenge on Tuesday, when tradition has it that you throw dishes or crockery back at the boys. But, "it has become increasingly popular for the ladies to get their revenge on Monday, tossing water back at the boys."
How did Dyngus Day start? Well, let's look to the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszke I in 966 A.D.
Baptism with water signifies cleansing, fertility and purification. How about it, Morris?
Whither the Killoran building?
One of the benefactors for the Killoran stage is concerned about the declining use of it, justifiably. Gone are the weekly Kiwanis talent shows, and holy cow, PPD is gone from summer. Is it true the Morris community band didn't even play there in 2018? The stage was built precisely for that kind of musical group.
I have a friend in Iowa who once played in the Eastern Iowa Brass Band. How super a group like that would sound at the stage. Isn't there a nucleus of quite musically inclined people in Morris? The group would not have to be as ambitious as the Iowa band which travels and participates in competitions. Why not a weekly concert at the stage in summer with hot dogs and pop available for the audience? Better yet, why not a group of high school-age musicians doing something weekly?
My generation was involved in marching band all summer. The director could crack the whip and we'd respond. Today the common Morris refrain in summer, as I have bemoaned, is "we're going to be gone." Yawn. We can at least remember the Community Thanksgiving Dinner and the summer Prairie Pioneer Days.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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